Newton's Laws of Motion and Balanced Forces

A mother and daughter press their hands together then push apart while ice skating.

Immediately after they push away from each other, how does the motion of the mother and daughter change?

• Both move backward, but the daughter moves with a greater acceleration.

• The mother moves forwards, and the daughter moves backward with a greater acceleration.

• Both move forward but the mother moves with a greater acceleration.

• The mother moves backwards, and the daughter moves forwards with a greater acceleration.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

A large rock is motionless on a flat sidewalk. Which statement best explains why the

rock remains motionless.

• There are no forces acting on the rock.

• The only force acting on the rock is directed towards the sidewalk.

• The forces acting on the rock are all balanced.

• The sidewalk exerts an unbalanced force on the rock

The diagrams show forces acting on a toy car as it moves to the right. Which diagram shows the toy car that will most likely accelerate to the right?

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• 
• 
• 

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

In order for an object such as a communications satellite to maintain a constant orbit

around the Earth, what must be true? The forward motion of the satellite must

• vary slightly due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis.

• be greater than the Earth’s rotational speed.

• constantly overcome frictional forces.

• be in balance with Earth’s gravitational pull.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Joe pushes a box with a force of 16 N

to the left. Ann pushes the same box

from the opposite side with a force of

10 N to the right. What will be the

result?

• The box will move up because of a

  combined force of 26 N.

• The box will not move because 6

  N is not enough to move it.

• The box will move to the left

  because of a net force of 6 N.

• The box will move to the right.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Forces that act on objects can affect

their speed and direction.

A car is traveling down the street in

direction A. Which of the forces shown

in the figure above would affect ONLY

the speed of the car?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

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NGSS.MS-PS3-1

NGSS.MS-PS3-5

In the diagrams below, two forces are

exerted on an object. The forces are

represented by arrows. The length of

the arrow indicates the magnitude of

the force. In which of the diagrams

will the motion of the object remain

unchanged?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

A sheet of notebook paper lying

motionless on a table and not

touched by an outside force will

MOST likely remain motionless

because —

• balanced forces exerted by

  gravity and the table keep the

  paper motionless

• an unbalanced force is exerted

  by the table to keep the paper

  motionless

• balanced forces exerted by

  gravity and the air keep the

  paper motionless

• an unbalanced force is exerted

  by the air to keep the paper

  motionless

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

For an investigation, a student measures the speed of a cart as it rolls down a ramp. The student then records data in the table above.

Which of these best explains the student’s data?

• The speed of the cart decreases as the cart rolls down the ramp because of

  friction between the cart and the ramp.

• The speed of the cart increases as the cart rolls down theramp because the force

  acting on the cart is greater than the force of gravity.

• The speed of the cart increases as the cart rolls down the ramp because the

  forces acting on the cart are unbalanced.

• The speed of the cart decreases as the cart rolls down the ramp because the

  forces acting on the cart are balanced.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Some students measure the acceleration of a wheeled cart being acted on by varying forces. The students record their data in the table shown above. According to the data table, how much force is acting on the cart when the students measure an acceleration of 2.6 m/s 

• 13 N

• 7 N

• 8 N

• 12 N

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2